Broken sprinkler flow restriction or flow shut off suppressor for sprinkler

ABSTRACT

A restriction valve in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention includes a valve body adapted to be positioned at an inlet of the sprinkler, wherein the valve body includes a central opening through which water flows into the sprinkler, a rib extending downwardly from the valve body at a location beyond the margin of the central opening, a valve member configured to cooperate with the central opening to open and close the valve, wherein the valve member includes a valve stem extending downwardly from the valve member, and positioned and configured to be movably supported in a guide ring formed at a lower end of the rib, wherein the valve stem is movable vertically to move the valve member to its open and closed positions and a resilient member biasing the valve stem such that the valve member remains in an open position until water pressure pushing against the valve member reaches a predetermined level to move the valve member into the closed position to restrict the flow of water into the sprinkler

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims benefit of and priority to U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 60/703,683 entitled BROKEN SPRINKLERFLOW RESTRICTION OR FLOW STOP/FLOW SURGE SUPPRESSOR FOR SPRINKLERS filedJul. 29, 2005, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated byreference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a restriction valve for use in asprinkler of an irrigation system. More particularly, the presentinvention relates to a restriction valve that can be inserted into asprinkler to restrict or shut off the flow of water into the sprinklerwhen desired.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ART

Irrigation systems typically include one or more sprinklers that areconnected together via a common water supply pipe that provides waterfrom a water supply to the sprinklers. The sprinkler are typicallyactivated when a main valve is turned on, thus providing water from thewater supply through the supply pipe to each of the sprinklers. It iscommon to use sprinklers with a pop-up riser that “pops up” whenactivated to allow for better dispersal of water and retracts whendeactivated such that it does not present an obstacle on the lawn orlandscape. Typically, the inflow of water into the sprinkler providessufficient pressure to cause the riser to pop up as desired. Thus, it isgenerally favorable to avoid obstacles to the inflow of water into thesprinkler.

However, in certain circumstances, it may be useful to restrict or cutoff the flow of water into a particular sprinkler. For example, in theirrigation system generally described above, a sprinkler that ispositioned at the end of the supply line may have to absorb a ratherhigh pressure inflow of water, particularly at start up. Due the rathersubstantial pressure change that occurs at start-up, the sudden impactof the high pressure water flowing into the sprinkler may damage partswithin the sprinkler. Further, the sudden pressure increase will resultin the riser rapidly popping up, which could also damage the sprinkler.In addition, if the riser is otherwise damaged, for example by a lawnmower or other landscape maintenance equipment, water provided to thesprinkler may simply pour out of the damaged riser. In this situation,it would be advantageous to cut off the high flow of water through thesprinkler.

While there are devices that are used to restrict the flow of water intoa sprinkler, these devices tend to be complicated and thus, add bothcost and complexity to the manufacture of sprinklers. For example, U.S.Pat. No. 5,823,440 assigned to Hunter Industries, Inc. relates to avelocity controlling valve. In this patent, the movement of a valve toallow the flow of water into the sprinkler is countered by resistancefrom dampening fluid in a chamber above the valve member, such that thevalve opens slowly and restricts the rate of velocity of the flow ofwater into the sprinkler housing. While this solution may be effective,it is overly complicated and adds to the cost of the sprinkler and thecomplexity of its manufacture.

Thus, it would be beneficial to provide a restriction valve that avoidsthe problems noted above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a restriction valvefor use in a sprinkler that overcomes the problems discussed above.

A restriction valve for a sprinkler in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present application includes a valve body adapted to be positionedat an inlet of the sprinkler, wherein the valve body includes a centralopening through which water flows into the sprinkler, rib extendingdownwardly from the valve body at a location beyond the margin of thecentral opening, a valve member configured to cooperate with the centralopening to open and close the valve, wherein the valve member includes avalve stem extending downwardly from the valve member, and positionedand configured to be movably supported in a guide ring formed at a lowerend of the rib, and wherein the valve stem is movable vertically to movethe valve member to its open and closed positions, and wherein aresilient member biasing the valve stem such that the valve memberremains in an open position until water pressure pushing against thevalve member reached a predetermined level to move the valve member intothe closed position to restrict the flow of water into the sprinkler.

A sprinkler for use in an irrigation system in accordance with anembodiment of the present application includes a body, a spring biasedriser mounted in the body and operable to move upward and downwardtherein, an inlet formed in a bottom of the body for connection to awater supply and a restriction valve positioned in the inlet andoperable to move between an open position in which water is supplied tothe sprinkler and a closed position in which water is prevented fromentering the sprinkler. The restriction valve may also include aresilient member which biases the restriction valve in the open positionuntil a predetermined pressure is applied to the restriction valve tomove it to the closed position and to restrict the flow of water in tothe sprinkler body, the predetermined pressure selected based on arelative position of the sprinkler in the irrigation system.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following description of the invention which refers tothe accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING(S)

FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of a pop up type adjustable arcsprinkler with a restriction valve in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present application.

FIG. 2 illustrates a cross section of the sprinkler of FIG. 1 with theriser is a raised position.

FIG. 3A is a cross section side view of a restriction valve inaccordance with an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 3B is a bottom plan view of the restriction valve of FIG. 3

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

A flow control device in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention preferably includes a spring loaded restriction valve that maybe pressed or screwed into the inlet of existing sprinkler housings.Alternatively, the restriction valve may be integrally molded into thebody of the sprinkler during manufacture, if desired.

Referring to FIG. 1, a pop-up gear driven type sprinkler 1 may include aspring loaded restriction valve 5 in accordance with the presentinvention. The restriction valve illustrated in FIG. 1 is a poppetvalve, however any other pressure responsive valve may be used.

The restriction valve 5 may be inserted into the sprinkler body 1a at athreaded inlet portion 1b thereof before the inlet pipe 22 is screwedinto the sprinkler body to supply water to the sprinkler. That is, therestriction valve 5 is preferably positioned in the threaded area 1bbetween the sprinkler body 1a and the inlet pipe 22.

As best seen in FIG. 3A in the illustrated embodiment, the restrictionvalve 5 preferably includes body portion 20, a valve member 10 and aspring 18. While a spring is specifically described in the presentapplication, it is noted that spring 18 may be replaced by any resilientmember. Similarly, while the present application illustrates helicallywound spring 18, any other appropriate type of spring may be used, suchas a leaf spring.

Valve body 20 is formed of an annular washer-like plate 20A with one ormore downwardly extending ribs 6. The ribs 6 terminate at their lowerends in a guide ring 7. In a preferred embodiment, multiple ribs 6extend downwardly from the valve body 20 to provide additional supportfor the guide ring 7 (see FIG. 3B, for example).

The valve member 10 includes a valve disk 26 and a downwardly extendingvalve stem 9 which is positioned in the guide ring 7. A peripheralsurface 28 of the disk 26 cooperates with a valve seat formed bycomplimentary surface 11 on the radially inner margin of plate 20A toopen and close the valve. The guide ring 7 guides the vertical movementof the valve stem 9.

The top of the spring 18 bears against the bottom surface 7B of theguide ring 7 (see FIG. 3A). The bottom of the spring 18 bears againstthe flange 8 formed on the bottom end of the valve stem 9 such that thespring biases the valve member 10 in an open position as illustrated inFIGS. 1 and 3A, for example. The downward force of the spring 18 againstthe flange 8 holds the disk away from the opening 11 in the body 20. Asa result a space 15 is maintained between the disk 26 and the body 20that allows water to flow through the valve 5 into the sprinkler body1a.

The valve 5 remains open unless or until the force of the water flowingthrough the valve pushes the valve member 10 upward. Spring 18 ispartially compressed on assembly and presses against the flange 8 tokeep the valve open until the pressure exerted by the flow overcomes thebias of the spring 18 to push the valve member 10 upward into the closedposition. This occurs when the pressure of the water flow reaches apredetermined pressure level sufficient to cause a differential pressureacross the disk area 26 of valve member 10 to overcome the preload forceof spring 18 to keep the valve member down and the flow area 15 betweenthe opening 11 and the disk 26 open. As the valve member 10 moves upwardinto the closed position, the opening 15 is eliminated and the flow ofwater is cut off or restricted depending on the diameter fit between theoutside circumference 28 of the disk 26 and the opening 11, as isdescribed further below.

In an alternative embodiment, the disk 26 of the restriction valve 5 maybe sized such that its diameter is smaller than that of the opening inthe body 20. As a result, when the valve member 10 moves into the closedposition, the disk 26 will not completely block the opening in the body20. Thus, water will still be able to flow into the sprinkler body butat a reduced rate. After the pressure differential inside the sprinklerand at the inlet stabilizes, the valve member 10 will return to the openposition. Thus, this embodiment is particularly useful for restrictingthe flow rate into the sprinkler to avoid damage.

The predetermined pressure at which the valve member is moved into theclosed position preferably corresponds to a flow rate in the sprinklerthat is likely to cause damage and/or indicate a damaged sprinkler, forexample, approximately 5-6 gallons per minute (GPM). Naturally, thespring 18 may be selected such that the spring bias is overcome at anydesired flow rate.

The restriction valve 5 may be color coded or otherwise marked toindicate the bias provided by the resilient member and to indicatewhether the disk is wide enough to block off the flow of watercompletely, such that the valve can selected for use in an appropriatesprinkler. For example, in different irrigation systems, individualsprinklers may be subject to higher flow pressures due to their relativeposition in the system, for example. Similarly, certain sprinkler may bemore prone to damage based on their position in the irrigation system.Other sprinklers in the system may not need restriction valves at all.Thus, it is particularly advantageous that the restriction valve 5 canbe inserted into any desired sprinkler.

In an alternative embodiment, the restriction valve 5 may beincorporated directly into the body 1a of the sprinkler 1 duringmanufacture. In this case, the valve body 20 is preferably integratedinto or attached to the body 1a of the sprinkler. Otherwise theoperation of the valve is substantially similar to that described above.In this embodiment, the sprinkler may be color coded or otherwise markedto indicate the bias of the spring used therein and to indicate whetherthe disk is wide enough to shut off the water flow in order to allowsprinklers to be appropriately positioned in the irrigation system.

Although the present invention has been described in relation toparticular embodiments thereof, many other variations and modificationsand other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art. It ispreferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited not by thespecific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A sprinkler for use in an irrigation systemcomprising: a body; a spring biased riser mounted in the body configuredand operable to move upward and downward therein; an inlet formed in abottom of the body configured and operable for connection to a watersupply; and a restriction valve positioned in the inlet and operable tomove between an open position in which water is supplied to thesprinkler and a closed position in which the flow of water entering thesprinkler is restricted, the restriction valve further comprises: avalve body integrated into the body of the sprinkler adjacent to theinlet and including a central opening through which water flows into thesprinkler; a rib extending from the valve body along a longitudinal axisof the valve at a location beyond an inner margin of the centralopening; a valve member configured and operative to cooperate with thecentral opening to open and close the valve; and a resilient memberwhich biases the restriction valve in the open position until apredetermined pressure is applied to the restriction valve to move it tothe closed position and to restrict the flow of water in to into thesprinkler body, the predetermined pressure selected based on a relativeposition of the sprinkler in the irrigation system, wherein the valvemember further includes a valve stem extending in a direction of alongitudinal axis of the valve from the valve member, and positioned andconfigured to be movably supported in a guide ring formed at a lower endof the rib, wherein the valve stem is movable vertically to move thevalve member to its open and closed positions, the resilient memberbiasing the valve stem such that the valve member remains in the openposition until water pressure pushing against the valve member reachesthe predetermined pressure to overcome the bias of the resilient member,and further comprising a plurality of ribs extending from the valve bodyin a direction of a longitudinal axis of the valve, wherein theplurality of ribs support the guide ring.
 2. A sprinkler for use in anirrigation system comprising: a cylindrical body; a riser mounted in thebody to move upward and downward therein; an inlet formed in a bottom ofthe cylindrical body configured and operable for connection to a watersupply; and a restriction valve positioned in the inlet and operable tomove between an open position in which water is supplied to thesprinkler and a closed position in which the flow of water entering thesprinkler is restricted, the restriction valve comprise: a valve bodyintegrated into the body of the sprinkler adjacent to the inlet andincluding a central opening through which water flows into thesprinkler; a rib extending from the valve body along a longitudinal axisof the valve at a location beyond an inner margin of the centralopening; a valve member configured and operative to cooperate with thecentral opening to move between the open position and the closedposition, the valve member further having a disk with a maximumdiameter, the disk shaped to fit into the central opening in the valvebody when the valve member is in the closed position, wherein themaximum diameter of the disk is less than that of the central openingsuch that the flow of water into the sprinkler is restricted; and aresilient member which biases the restriction valve in the open positionuntil a predetermined pressure is applied to the restriction valve tomove it to the closed position and to restrict the flow of water intothe sprinkler body, the predetermined pressure selected based on arelative position of the sprinkler in the irrigation system, wherein thevalve member further includes a valve stem extending downwardly from thevalve member, and positioned and configured to be movably supported in aguide ring formed at a lower end of the rib, wherein the valve stem, ismovable vertically to move the valve member to its open and closedpositions; and the resilient member biasing the valve stem such that thevalve member remains in the open position until water pressure pushingagainst the valve member reaches the predetermined pressure to overcomethe bias of the resilient member.
 3. The sprinkler or claim 2, whereinthe valve member further comprises: a flange extending from the valvestem below the guide ring, wherein the resilient member is positionedbetween the flange and the guide ring to bias the valve member in theopen position.
 4. The sprinkler of claim 2, wherein the resilient memberis tensioned to resist compression until the predetermined pressure isexceeded.
 5. The sprinkler of claim 2, further comprising indiciaidentifying the predetermined pressure required to compress theresilient member.
 6. A sprinkler for use in an irrigation systemcomprising: a cylindrical body; a riser mounted in the body to moveupward and downward therein; an inlet formed in a bottom of thecylindrical body configured and operable for connection to a watersupply; and a restriction valve positioned in the inlet and operable tomove between an open position in which water is supplied to thesprinkler and a closed position in which the flow of water entering thesprinkler is restricted, the restriction valve comprise: a valve bodyintegrated into the body of the sprinkler adjacent to the inlet andincluding a central opening through which water flows into thesprinkler; a rib extending from the valve body along a longitudinal axisof the valve at a location beyond an inner margin of the centralopening; a valve member configured and operative to cooperate with thecentral opening to open and close the valve; an external threadpositioned on an outer periphery of the valve body and configured andoperable to screw the restriction valve into the sprinkler body; and aresilient member which biases the restriction valve in the open positionuntil a predetermined pressure is applied to the restriction valve tomove it to the closed position and to restrict the flow of water intothe sprinkler body, the predetermined pressure selected based on arelative position of the sprinkler in the irrigation system, wherein thevalve member further includes a valve stem extending in a direct of alongitudinal axis of the valve from the valve member, and positioned andconfigured to be movably supported in a guide ring formed at a lower endof the rib, wherein the valve stem, is movable vertically to move thevalve member to its open and closed positions; the resilient memberbiasing the valve stem such that the valve member remains in the openposition until water pressure pushing against the valve member reachesthe predetermined pressure to overcome the bias of the resilient member,and the resilient member is tensioned to resist compression until thepredetermined pressure is exceeded, the predetermined pressure isselected based on a relative position elevation of the sprinklerirrigation system.
 7. A sprinkler for use in an irrigation systemcomprising: a body; a riser mounted in the body to move upward anddownward therein; an inlet formed in a bottom of the body configured andoperable for connection to a water supply; and a restriction valvepositioned in the inlet and operable to move between an open position inwhich water is supplied to the sprinkler and a closed position in whichthe flow of water entering the sprinkler is restricted, the restrictionvalve further comprises: a valve body integrated into the body of thesprinkler adjacent to the inlet and including a central opening throughwhich water flows into the sprinkler; a rib extending from the valvebody in a direction of a longitudinal axis of the valve at a locationbeyond an inner margin of the central opening; a valve member configuredand operative to cooperate with the central opening to open and closethe valve; and a resilient member which biases the restriction valve inthe open position until a predetermined pressure is applied to therestriction value to move it to the closed position and to restrict theflow of water into the sprinkler body, the predetermined pressureselected based on a relative position of the sprinkler in the irrigationsystem, wherein the valve member further included a valve stem extendingdownwardly from the valve member, and positioned and configured to bemovably supported in a guide ring formed at a lower end of the rib,wherein the valve stem is movable vertically to move the valve member toits open and closed positioned, the resilient member biasing the valvestem such that the valve member remains in the open position until waterpressure pushing against the valve member reaches the predeterminedpressure to overcome the bias of the resilient member.